Trinity Mirror confirmed yesterday that it had held “very preliminary discussions” about spinning Sunday People off into a joint venture.

It is understood that it would share ownership with a consortium called Phoenix Ventures, headed by Ms Douglas and backed by investors including Keith Harris, chairman of investment bank Seymour Pierce, and Brian Kennedy, owner of Sale Sharks rugby club.

Ms Douglas would use the paper to go as close as she could to reviving the News of the World, without getting her hands on the News Corporation red top itself.

The consortium is understood to be planning to rename Sunday People as News of the People or News on Sunday, combining its own name with that of the News of the World, which closed in 2011 amid allegations that its journalists routinely hacked phone calls and bribed officials to get stories.

In addition to changing its name, the Sunday People may also adopt the News of the World’s fonts and masthead style, according to reports.

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Phoenix Ventures is thought to be offering to invest around £10m in the newspaper.

Ms Douglas’ play for Sunday People marks her second attempt to revive The News of The World. She offered to revive thge newspaper shortly after its closure but her approach was rebuffed by News Corporation founder Rupert Murdoch and his son James, who was then still in charge of the News International business in Britain.

She is understood to believe there is still demand for a hard-hitting Sunday tabloid to take on the existing red tops, including News Corp’s own News of the World replacement, The Sun on Sunday which sells just over 2m copies a week.